The second era of Claude Julien’s reign as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens has arrived with great fanfare. Fans packed the Complexe Bell arena in Brossard on Friday afternoon to get the first glimpse into Julien’s new lines as the players returned to work from their bye week holiday. The defense pairings were relatively unchanged with Greg Pateryn and Nikita Nesterov rotating alongside of Nathan Beaulieu on the third unit while the top four remained intact. It appears as though Nesterov will get the first chance to play as the team’s sixth defenseman. Those who were expecting change in the Canadiens top six were not disappointed as Julien is giving Alex Galchenyuk an immediate opportunity to center the team’s first line between Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov. The complete lines were:
The vote of confidence in Galchenyuk’s ability to regain his form is especially noteworthy. It would have been understandable if Julien decided that he did not want to rock the boat and take the time to familiarize himself with his new players. Instead, he is seemingly already determined to bring out the best in Galchenyuk by surrounding him with the team’s most talented wingers. Could Julien have also been influenced by associate coach Kirk Muller in deciding to have Galchenyuk center the first line?
Unsurprisingly, Julien is also putting Tomas Plekanec in a position to succeed as he gets to second the team’s second line between Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher. The trio will likely be counted on to defend the opposition’s top lines but they have speed with Byron and Gallagher who will go to the net. It will be up to Plekanec to make the line work offensively as he has the most natural skill of the three. If not, then Plekanec will truly belong on the third line.
Phillip Danault goes from centering the first line to having Andrew Shaw and rookie Artturi Lehkonen on his wings. This line has potential to be very hard to play against, if the trio live up to their potential. All eyes will be on Shaw to see if Julien will be able to get him playing aggressive and strong hockey. He needs to be an energy player. He needs to be enjoying himself and having fun. Since his return from his concussion Shaw has looked miserable on the ice, afraid to make a mistake and then he promptly does just that. Julien is just the right coach to get him back on track, especially considering his success with energy type players with the Boston Bruins.
Michael McCarron was not officially called up before 5pm on Friday and so he was not present at the Canadiens practice. it remains to be seen if any changes will be made to the lineup today now that McCarron is available. Julien might want a big body in the lineup to go up against Dustin Byfuglien every now and then. Either way, David Desharnais is sure to be a healthy scratch as for now Brian Flynn and Sven Andrighetto will flank Torrey Mitchell on the team’s fourth line.
With just one practice under their belt and heading into their first game less than 24 hours later, Julien wanted to make that he kept things light and positive and practice. He wants his players to know and understand that he believes in them right away, that he would not have taken the job if he did not feel that the team had real potential.
The players were appreciative and obviously excited to start anew:
From Max Pacioretty (courtesy of Canadiens.com):
"It's always a bit exciting to go out there and get a bit of a boost when fresh eyes are on you, fresh people are evaluating what you're doing, and you're getting different input," added the Habs scoring leader. "Even hearing different buzzwords, and different ways of explaining things -- it boosts energy and gets guys going, which we should see tomorrow.”
From Andrew Shaw (courtesy of Canadiens.com):
"But I knew he was a good coach, he coached a good team and he gets the best out of his players. That Boston team was only a few seconds away from pushing the series to Game 7. It was an amazing series, and it gave him experience at both ends -- winning and losing. I think his experience as a coach will help us a lot."
As for their opponent today the Winnipeg Jets, they will be attempting to crash the party and spoil Julien’s (re?) debut. The Jets are four points behind the Calgary Flames for the Western Conference’s second wild card spot and will be fighting hard for two points. It will be a treat for Canadiens fans to see rookie sensation Patrik Laine in person. With 27 goals including four in his last two games to go along with his 48 points, Laine is having a sensational rookie campaign. The Jets lines will likely be:
Perhaps Canadiens fans should have lower expectations for today’s game considering NHL teams are just 3-9-2 coming out of their bye week. On the flip side, the immediate success of recent coaching changes of the New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and Bruins should be encouraging. Regardless, this afternoon’s game should be filled with excitement…
Puck drops at 2pm.
Cheers and enjoy the game!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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